1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic camera capable of setting a print number of a taken image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic cameras are in widespread use. In such electronic cameras, a shooting image taken by a CCD image sensor and so forth is converted into digital image data and is recorded in a recording medium of an embedded memory, a memory card and so forth. The image taken by the electronic camera is not only viewed on a liquid-crystal display, which is provided on a camera body, but also is often printed by a home-use printer or by a street laboratory.
In the meantime, nowadays it is known that there is an electronic camera in which print-number data of the taken image is recorded in the recording medium besides the image data of the taken image. When the recording medium in which the print-number data is recorded is set to a predetermined printer, a selected image frame is automatically printed by a designated number. Thus, by inputting the print-number data beforehand into the recording medium, it is unnecessary to set the print number during a printing operation. This is very useful.
An operation for inputting the print-number data into the recording medium is often performed after taking a plurality of images. In some electronic cameras, it is possible to input the print-number data by pressing a predetermined button. Concretely, the electronic camera is set to a print designation mode after taking images, and under this mode, a picture for setting the print number is selected with right-and-left buttons of a cross-shaped button. And then, the print number is increased and decreased with up-and-down buttons of the cross-shaped button.
However, the operation for inputting the print-number data into the recording medium is troublesome for an operator being unused to handling of the electronic camera. In particular, as to the electronic camera having various functions, workings of the buttons change in accordance with the respective modes so that it is difficult to select the proper button. The operation for inputting the print-number data is complicated.